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Hoffman grilled over sex misconduct claims

06 December 2017

A starry anniversary discussion of the film Wag the Dog turned testy when moderator John Oliver confronted Dustin Hoffman about allegations of sexual harassment.

Hoffman seemed blindsided and defensive by the line of questioning from the host of HBO's Last Week Tonight on Monday. Hoffman explained the accusation was 40 years old. "I don't love that response either," Oliver said. Hoffman shot back: "What response do you want?" Hoffman maintained that he did nothing wrong.

Actress Anna Graham Hunter has alleged that Hoffman groped her and made inappropriate comments when she was a 17-year-old intern on the set of the 1985 TV movie Death of a Salesman.

Hoffman had said in an earlier statement that the incident "is not reflective of who I am", which Oliver seized on and called a "cop out" adding: "It is reflective of who you were." Hoffman complained: "You've put me on display here."

The back-and-forth came at a 20th-anniversary screening panel. Onstage in addition to Oliver and Hoffman were Robert De Niro, producer Jane Rosenthal and director Barry Levinson.

"I get no pleasure from having this conversation," Oliver said. Referring to Hoffman, he added: "But you and I are not the victims here."